The Color of Water - a Search for Identity

The American Heritage Dictionary defines identity as the distinct personality of an individual. Many factors make up one's identity, such as race, one's relationship with society, and religion. People seek other people who with they can identify. One must interact with others and learn from his interests and their responses to find a suitable group. The process of finding a group allows one to discover his own identity. Through The Color of Water, James McBride demonstrates that one perceives his identity through feedback from others as well as through his own thoughts and emotions.

One aspect of identity where feedback can be given almost instantaneously is race, as it involves a person's skin color. Young children often ignore each others' races unless they are taught or given reason to do otherwise. McBride's race came to his attention at an early age. He noticed that both black people and white people stared at his white mother with her black family, letting him know that his family was different from what was considered normal and acceptable by society. Comparing skin color with his mother, he noticed that her skin was white while his was black. He became confused about his own color and uncomfortable with the fact that his mother was white. He wanted to be accepted by others, and he thought that life "would be easier if [his family was] just one color, black or white" (103). McBride became aware of his race at a younger age than most children. While he was comparing skin color with others, I was unconcerned about my race because people of similar skin color surrounded me. I was aware of black people, but, because most people that were around me were white, I never felt alienated because of my race. Also, my family was made up of one race, so I did not share McBride's confusion about his color. Because of his uncertainty, he was unsure of how he fit into society.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...Color of Water
James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, demonstrates a man's search for identity and a sense of self that derives from his multiracial family. His white mother, Ruth's abusive childhood as a Jew led her to search for acceptance in the African American community, where she made her large family from the two men she marries. James defines his identity by truth of his mother's pain and exceptionality, through the family she creates and the life she leaves behind. As a boy, James questions his unique family and color through his confusion of issues of race. Later in his life, as an adolescent, his racial perplexity results in James hiding from his emotions, relying only on the anger he felt against the world. It is only when James uncovers the past of his mother does he begin to understand the complexity with himself and form his own identity.
As James matures, issues of race in his life became too apparent to ignore. His multiracial family provides no clear explanations on prejudices and racism, and when "[James] asked [Ruth] if she was white, she'd say, No. I'm light skinned,' and change the subject." Ruth avoiding addressing racial issues causes confusion within the siblings, which "perplexed [James] to the point of bursting. [He] took the question to [his] elder siblings Are we black or white?' [He] asked...

... Sources of Identity 10/14/13
Without rebellion where would our society be? People discover their differences through rebellion. It is a necessary part of growing up, and is essential to finding a place to fit in the puzzle of the world. In the memoir The Color of Water by James McBride, both characters, Ruth and James, grow up in communities where they feel like outcasts. James is biracial but appears black, and goes to an all white school. Ruth was raised as an orthodox Jew in a non-Jewish community. Ruth and James strive for acceptance and find it through insubordination; by rebelling against society both Ruth and James find themselves. They do so by going against their parents, finding a different community and religion.
Ruth grew up in a chaotic household. Ruth’s father, Tateh, sexually and mentally abused Ruth. Tateh was a cheap, abusive, racist, unfaithful Rabbi. Tateh was such a bad role model that Ruth was raised to somewhere in her heart, hate him. Tateh owned a store where he sold general goods. Tateh had a prejudice against blacks, so he would cheat them for their money. Ruth knew what he did was unfair but never had a say in what went on in his life, Tateh was the ‘ruler’ of the family. Ruth and her sister DeeDee would work inexplicably hard at Tateh’s store. They wouldn’t get a salary and were forced to work and manage schoolwork at the same time. Everything Tateh did with his family was for...

...
Period 7
6/7/13
Title
In The Color of Water James struggles with his sense of identity through childhood because he grew up in an environment void of identity; his mother runs from her own identity, so James cannot find his own.
By alternating points of view between James and his mother each chapter, James McBride shows that discovering the identity of his mother was just as important as discovering his own identity; without finding his mother he could not have found himself. Ruth, James’s mother, and James had very different childhoods full of many different struggles and conflicts. Having them laid out in alternating chapters gives the feel that they are side-by-side, allowing the reader to compare and contrast the upbringing of the two. It is through this process that the idea of looking up towards your parents is shown for both people. In the very first chapter Ruth speaks very briefly, but almost exclusively about her parents: “My father’s name was Fishel Shilsky... under fire when he ran off from the army, and his ability to slick himself out of anything that wasn’t good for him stayed with him for as long as I knew him.” (McBride 2). This in-depth information continued as Ruth spoke dearly about her two parents: who they were, what they were like, and their past. While Ruth seems close, or at least knowledgeable of both parents, as James begins his chapter...

...The search for identity
"I'm light-skinned" (McBride xix) is what James's mother had always told him whenever he asked her whether she was white or not. James's ethnic/family background had been a mystery to him ever since he was a child and also carried on with him into adulthood. He never knew his mother's history, where she came from, or relatives from her side of the family. This created confusion within James. He could not identify himself as white or black because he did not have any knowledge of his family. Resulting in, his childhood to be filled with fear, embarrassment, frustration, and isolation. Many of James's adult years were filled with even larger problems concerning race and his own identity, he later solved the mystery of his identity through the writing of the book, The Color of Water, where James's mother unrevealed their family's history.
As a child, James had always questioned his mother about her race, doing so would uncover his identity, but had never received a straight forward answer. At one point during his childhood, he asked his mother "Am I black or white?" (92) and she simply replied "You're a human being, educate yourself or you'll be a nobody" (92). This left James confused and very frustrated. James's mother, Ruth, didn't want the topic of race to interfere with his education or Christian faith. She despised her past and never wanted to...

...As we grow older we learn a little bit more about our background and ourselves each day. Whether it is by searching and finding out on our own, or by questioning those surrounding us about their past to help us decode our true identity along the way. But how about when we are young and have so many curiosities about ourselves and ask so many questions but there are just no answers given. Do we have the right to search for those answers by experiencing different stages in life until we find our true self? Not knowing why you and your mother look so different can affect one’s sense of identity like it happened to James McBride. This is why throughout his autobiography The Color of Water, he concludes that in order to find his true identity he needs to learn about his mother’s past.
James McBride was born to a white mom and a black dad. He grew up with his mom, Ruth, living in a neighborhood where she was seen as the strange and out-of-the ordinary one. James underwent a stage of confusion during his childhood when he noticed that he and his mom had no physical similarities. He would see mothers taking their kids to school and right away notice a resemblance. But between he and his mom, nothing. Until one day as it was expected, James’ inquisitiveness kicked in and he asked Ruth why he didn’t look like her. On page 12, “I asked Mommy why she didn’t look like the other mothers...How come you...

...While growing up, James McBride never knew where his mother had come from. When he asked her if she was white, she simply replied that she was “light-skinned”, triggering a long-standing confusion about his own racial identity. As an adult, McBride offers the reader his story by alternating between his mother’s voice and his own. That’s one of the great things about this book. The reader gets the insights on both characters and what exactly makes them who they are.
Ruth McBride was a Jewish immigrant to the United States. After traveling around the country with her family, they settled down in Suffolk, Virginia and opened a general store, which they lived above. This general store was located in a predominately black part of town. As a Jew, she felt as though she could relate to the hardships of the black people near her. Especially since during these times, she realized that the Ku Klux Klan and the white population in general gave off a tense and violent vibe. In her adult life, she married a black man, Andrew Dennis McBride, whom she had eight children with. The family lived in Harlem, New York for years and she worked at low-end jobs. She found herself socializing with black people, and living the life of a black woman. After moving away from her family, Ruth needed a stress-reliever and converted to Christianity, which is she found her sense of relief and the power of forgiveness. After Andrew passed, she remarried to Hunter Jordan, who...

...Some children have difficulties accepting their race. In “The Color of Water” written by James McBride covers the story of a biracial man that is trying to find out more about his white mother. Throughout the book James McBride discusses how racism and acceptance from people can be difficult. In the text “The Color of Water”, racial tensions has had an effect on James mother Ruth’s along with James and other individuals who have dealt with being biracial while looking to being accepted in their environment. The book uncovers how the main character Ruth, dealt with her negative memories of her past experience and how she was able to become a strong individual. In addition, in a Time magazine article “Intermarried..with Children,” by Jill Smolowe and Greg Aunapu, explores how other families deal with interracial marriages. In the Social Science Quarterly there is an article, “Racial/Ethnic Identification of Children of Intermarried Couples” where the author reflects on how biracial families form their identity. Issues like interracial marriage as shown in the Time magazines article and loss of identity are relatable to “The Color of Water.”
“The Color of Water” written by James McBride is about a Jewish, white woman named Ruth who married two African-American men and had eight children in the first marriage and four in the second...

...Whitney Johnson-Jackson
LBST 2212-112
Ms. Cochran
February 14, 2012
The Color of Water Reflective Writing 1
Throughout my reading of this prolific non-fiction novel, one thing that seems to keep appearing frequently in my reading is the burden of secrets and their effects, more specifically with Ruth and her Jewish family. Ruth’s family was kept a secret for the majority of her own children’s adolescent years. Her desire to never speak of the relatives that claimed her “dead” seemed to haunt Ruth and deter her relationship with her own children. Secrets and mysteries appear often in this memoir; for much of James’ childhood, he knew little to nothing about his mother’s Jewish background, Ruth simply discouraged him from such intense curiosity. His mother’s secrecy as well as his desire to know of his own hidden roots is what inevitably drove him to write this novel. Furthermore, in her years as a young Jewish woman living in Suffolk, Virginia, Ruth at one point became pregnant with a child from her boyfriend Peter who was African-American. In the late 20’s and 30’s, biracial relationships were unspoken of; black men were often times shot or lynched for even looking in the same direction as a white woman. Ruth knew that she could not confide in her immediate family and so her mother, after finding Ruth’s bracelet in the back alley in which the blacks lived, suggested that Ruth go and live with her grandmother in New York. Additionally,...